How the offer works1. Open your first new personal checking account by 2/28/13.2. Get $50 when you setup direct deposit and have a single deposit of $500 or more clear your new checking account by 4/30/13.3. Get $50 when you enroll in Online Banking and pay 3 or more bills online that post and clear your new checking account by 4/30/13.4. Get an additional $50, for a total of $150, for completing both steps 2 and 3 by 4/30/13

The personal banker told me that they only do a Chexsystems pull but I haven't confirmed. Thinking about pulling the trigger there - account only requires 5 debit transactions a month to avoid the fees.

VA Zip code, The Zip Code you entered is out of our business area. Use our branch locator to see if Citizens Bank offers services in your area.

NoMoneyInMyWallet

Tired Member

posted: Feb. 1, 2013 @ 11:34a

debtinator said: Anyone know if it can be funded with CC or combined with this offer: http://www.citizensbank.com/555/Looks like 555 offer is expired ... You must open a qualified checking account to earn extra bonuses. A qualified checking account is a new personal checking account opened between 9/1/12 and 9/28/12 with a minimum opening deposit of $500.

ETA: 150 offer states ... Offer may be withdrawn without notice and cannot be combined with any other checking offer.

AugustFour

Senior Member - 2K

posted: Feb. 1, 2013 @ 12:12p

Is this nation-wide?

NoMoneyInMyWallet

Tired Member

posted: Feb. 1, 2013 @ 12:45p

AugustFour said: Is this nation-wide?Only valid for addresses within their service area.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a British-owned formerly American bank headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, which operates in the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. Citizens is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, with headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland.

nomdeplume

Member

posted: Feb. 1, 2013 @ 4:07p

Make sure you print out copy of offer. Twice I needed that when they failed to furnish bonus. Also, once they had an offer for an additional bonus for opening money market savings or CD and they did a hard pull. Don't remember if they did hard pull for the checking.

Interestingly, when they manually added the bonus due, ( the one I had to provide printout proof for)it never showed up on 1099.

Wow if my math is right, deposit 3600 over 12 years and get 1000. Not a terrible deal. Accounts to about 8% guaranteed over 12 years.

kekeli

Member

posted: Feb. 2, 2013 @ 12:02a

Any one know for sure whether this means a hard pull? How will this account application affect my credit score?

"Credit reporting disclosure

I authorize the Bank to obtain a credit report or other report or account information from credit or information services agencies to help verify the information I provided in this application and facilitate the processing of my application for this account or for any other lawful purpose."

Silverthunder

Senior Member

posted: Feb. 2, 2013 @ 12:16a

Soft pull, according to the rep (and she seemed like she knew what she was talking about).

dbl118

Silly Member

posted: Feb. 2, 2013 @ 6:38a

I do these bank deals when I want to kill a lot of time for ~$100 after taxes/lost interest. I seem to recall citizens bank was one of the easier deals...nice online setup made paying bills quick. Maybe I'll do it again.

Wow if my math is right, deposit 3600 over 12 years and get 1000. Not a terrible deal. Accounts to about 8% guaranteed over 12 years.

I haven't done the math yet myself but that sounds close. Also you need to consider the opportunity cost of that money sitting in a "low yield" savings account. Looking at their current rates - 0.10% isn't very promising.

Still if your planning on putting some money away anyway doesn't sound like a bad deal.

Does anyone who has done this in past, know if ACH push from ING (Capital One 360 now) qualify for DD?

Sashinator00

Member

posted: Feb. 2, 2013 @ 5:44p

johnnybs said: Can you avoid fees with direct deposit?

No, you have to keep 1500 dollars or have 5 transactions every month.

AugustFour

Senior Member - 2K

posted: Feb. 4, 2013 @ 1:23p

Agent: At this time, we operate under the Citizens Bank brand in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, and the Charter One brand in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.Agent: Unfortunately, you cannot open an account if you are not within the business area at this time.

Silverthunder

Senior Member

posted: Feb. 5, 2013 @ 10:19p

The rep that I dealt with on this offer was Stephanie @ 877-404-2472 x 3516. She was very helpful and knowledgable. I think that it's good to have a single contact person for getting set up with the account.

s3riously

Senior Member

posted: Feb. 7, 2013 @ 10:54a

Is anyone else concerned about the wording? "Open your first new personal checking account by 2/28/13.". I have had checking accounts with them in the past for bonuses, the last being a few years ago. The "first new" verbage has me concerned but I am going to give it a shot anyways. They go on to say "Primary account holder may not be or have been a primary or secondary signer on any personalchecking account within the previous six months." so I am prepared to go to battle for my bonus lol.

Also, when I tried in 2011 (never opened account) - and again this time - the account cannot be set up online. The application halts and requires that I snail mail a copy of driver's license and a utility bill. After their acceptance, the account still cannot be funded online. Per a call to them, I must go to a branch to fund the account. The lady also acknowledged their archaic process and advised me that she would pass along my comments.

debtblag

Broke Member

posted: Feb. 7, 2013 @ 11:53p

AugustFour said: Agent: At this time, we operate under the Citizens Bank brand in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, and the Charter One brand in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.Agent: Unfortunately, you cannot open an account if you are not within the business area at this time.

Interesting. And it seems it doesn't let you enter a License/ID from a state outside of those either

Cheeseparing

Ancient Member

posted: Feb. 8, 2013 @ 10:48p

depreshun said: Is anyone else concerned about the wording? "Open your first new personal checking account by 2/28/13.". I have had checking accounts with them in the past for bonuses, the last being a few years ago. The "first new" verbage has me concerned but I am going to give it a shot anyways.

I have the same question. Closed an account early last year. Hope I can get this offer. Does anyone know?

newbietx

Happy Member

posted: Feb. 8, 2013 @ 11:07p

Hard pull?

Anyone fund with a CC successfully? If yes, what was the limit?

TIA!

Silverthunder

Senior Member

posted: Feb. 12, 2013 @ 11:37a

^-----|

Not a hard pull

CC limit was $1k. I opened over the phone.Can't confirm that that charge went through yet, though (I am not sure).

bppcomplete

Tired Member

posted: Feb. 17, 2013 @ 10:58a

Silverthunder said: ^-----|

Not a hard pull

CC limit was $1k. I opened over the phone.Can't confirm that that charge went through yet, though (I am not sure).

when it does, you should report back on whether or not it was a cash advance

dsatya

Addicted Member

posted: Feb. 18, 2013 @ 10:57a

looks like they might pull your credit

On the confirmation page..

"Credit reporting disclosure I authorize the Bank to obtain a credit report or other report or account information from credit or information services agencies to help verify the information I provided in this application and facilitate the processing of my application for this account or for any other lawful purpose."

FWIW I was told they couldn't open it with a CC, but they could do a cash advance. This was in a branch when I opened.

Silverthunder

Senior Member

posted: Feb. 22, 2013 @ 12:37p

debtinator said: FWIW I was told they couldn't open it with a CC, but they could do a cash advance. This was in a branch when I opened.

Perhaps they are wrong or they just do it differently at said branch. I used a Chase credit card, transaction posted on 2/5 and it still says "sale."

DraconianDevil

New Member

posted: Feb. 24, 2013 @ 11:14a

From the comments, seems like most dont use it as their primary account. So any rules around how long to wait before closing the account ?

s3riously

Senior Member

posted: Feb. 24, 2013 @ 1:59p

DraconianDevil said: From the comments, seems like most dont use it as their primary account. So any rules around how long to wait before closing the account ?

Well... You will need to keep the account open long enough to receive the bonuses (which may not post until ~06/30/13). I could not find their fee schedule anywhere on their web site. Most banks charge a fee for closing an account before 6-months typically. Interestingly enough, I skimmed their fee pamphlet and it does not list an early closing fee. It looks like you could close the account after the bonuses all post.

mbookey

New Member

posted: Feb. 28, 2013 @ 9:35a

Any idea what is considered a bill pay? Would payments made through their bill-pay service to other individuals or indirectly to companies via PayPal count?

ultrawildcard

Member

posted: Mar. 17, 2013 @ 8:05p

It's a hard pull . Nobody should think otherwise . It should be illegal since creditors interpret e dry hard pull as a request for more credit.

gloreglabert

Senior Member

posted: Mar. 17, 2013 @ 9:48p

ultrawildcard said: It's a hard pull . Nobody should think otherwise . It should be illegal since creditors interpret e dry hard pull as a request for more credit.No hard pull for me or wife.

Silverthunder

Senior Member

posted: May. 20, 2013 @ 2:23a

I got hit with a hard pull on Equifax. I am going to dispute it.

mjoply

Senior Member

posted: May. 20, 2013 @ 8:19a

Silverthunder said: I got hit with a hard pull on Equifax. I am going to dispute it.

You've nothing to dispute since they did have permissible purpose to look at a credit report. If you dispute it as fraudulent, they may close your account.

emgeecee

Nerdy Member

posted: Jun. 6, 2013 @ 5:32a

Got the 150 bonus today, does anyone know if there is an early closure fee?

misterspaghetti

Senior Member

posted: Jun. 6, 2013 @ 6:35a

Hard pull and denied based on Equifax. I really have no idea why since Equifax is free of delinquencies, etc.

debtinator

Senior Member

posted: Jun. 6, 2013 @ 8:26a

emgeecee said: Got the 150 bonus today, does anyone know if there is an early closure fee?

Thanks for posting, seems like I've been waiting forever. Sure enough mine is there too, posted on 6/5.

I will check my documents when I go home in a few weeks. I think you have to keep it open for 6 months off the top of my head, but there is no, or very little min balance req't

Technically, the bonus is income. If the bank filed a 1099-INT, then you should report it as such. The Instructions for Form 1099-INT states: "Box 1: Interest Income; Enter interest not included in box 3. Include amounts of $10 or more, whether or not designated as interest, that are paid or credited to the person's account by savings and loan associations, mutual savings banks not having capital stock represented by shares, building and loan associations, cooperative banks, homestead associations, credit unions, or similar organizations..." Most banks report bonuses on 1099-INT forms; and you report this on your 1040, line 8a, taxable income. However, a bank may report the bonus on a 1099-MISC form; in which you would report this on 1040, line 21, other income. And, if you received a bank bonus but no 1099 Forms or other tax form, then you still must report the income.

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